End-gate rod for wagons.



No. 647,555. Patented Apr. I7, |900.

\ G, c. coNsER.

ENDGATE ROD FUR WAGONS.

(Application led Dec. 11, 1899.)

Gant- Cleanser'.

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Ni'TnD STATES PATENT Ormes.

`GRANT c. coNsER, o F MERR1AM,`kANsAs.

END-GATE Roo Foa wAeoNs.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 6497,555,r datedApril 17, 1900. l Application filed December 11,1899. Serial No.739,879. (No model.)

To all whom t 71mg/ concern: Y

Be it known that I, GRANT C. CONSER, of Merriam, Johnson county, Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in End-Gate Rods forWagons, ot' which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in end-gate rods for wagons andaims to provide a :rod for securing the two rear corners of a wagon-boxtogether which shall he capable of practically instantaneous adjustmentinto or out of working position without the use of the nut ordinaril yemployed. I accomplish this object by making the rod in two sections,each section having at its outer end a hook to engage an eye secured toa corner of the box and each being pivoted at its inner end to a commonrotatable link, the rotation of which by the operator will draw saidsectionsltoward each other longitudinally and cause their curved ends toengage with each other and with said link in such a manner as to form alock to hold the sections in a state of tension, which will only bereleased by the forcible rotation of the link in the opposite direction,thus disengaging the sections at the center and leaving the hooked endsfree to be removed from the edges referred to.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the rear end of a Wagon-boxwith myimproved end-gate rod attached to the end-gate in disengagedposition. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the rod adjusted in workingposition. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the locking device forsecuring the inner ends of the secv tions of the rod together. Fig. 4 isa similar view showing the inner ends of the sections of the rod and thelocking-lever, all in locked position. Fig. 5 is a side view of thelocking device in relaxed position.

In Fig. 1, 1 designates the cnd-board of a wagon-box, which is set ingrooves on the inside of the vertical side-boards 2 in the usual manner.3 designates the bottom board. Near the upper edges of the side-boardseyebolts 4 5, having eyes 6 7, are passed through said sides andsecuredat their outer ends by nuts.

The end-gate rod is made in two sections S 9, the outer ends of whichpass through staples 10 11 and are provided with hooks 12 13, whichnormally engage the eyes 6 7, re-

form. The extremities of these bends are turned up at a right angle toform pins 16 17, which pass loosely through holes in a rotata-l blelever 18 and are riveted over the outer' surface of said lever, so as tobe permanently connected thereto and so that each of said pins or rivetsforms a pivot about which the lever 1S is rotatable. Said pivotal pointsare so located that in one position of the parts, as seen in Figs. 1, 3,and 5, the curved ends 14 15 of the sections 8 9 are entirely separateand disconnected, and in another position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4,they are held in engagement, so that if the sections S 9 of the rod arekept in alinement and tension applied to each outwardly the pivoted endswill be held in locked position. The change from one of said positionsto the other is effected bythe rotation of lever 1S, and in operation ifthe parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and hooks 12 13 aremade to `engage eyes 6 7 and lever 1S rotated the pivotal points 16 17will be carried nearly around each other until the parts assume theposition shown in Figs. 2 and 4, with pivot 16 lying in the concavity ofoffset 15 and pivot 17 lying in the concavity of offset 14. The lengthof the sections S 9 is such that by this movement all the slack in therod will be taken up and the corners of the wagon-box brought to andheld at the proper distance from each other,A and this rigid conditionof the rod will be maintained continuously until the lever 18 isforcibly rotated in the opposite direction, for the reason that the lineof tension between hook 13 and pivot 17 on the same section is abovepivot 16 on section 8, and the line of tension between hook 12 and pivot16 on the same section is below pivot 17 on sec-- tion 9. While thelocked position continues, the central portion 19V of lever 1S forms anabutment between the pivots to receive the strain. The reverse rotationof said lever changes the lines of tension and releases the parts.

When the parts are disengaged, the endboard is free to be removed fromthe box. The attachment of the sectional rod described to the end-boardby means of the staples pro- IOO vides a suitable support for the rodwhen in use and a convenient carrier when the endboard is removed fromthe box.

I do not limit my invention to the particular method described ofattaching the outer ends of the sections of the rod to the adjacentsides of the box, as any preferred method may be adopted.,

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A Wagonend-gate rod consisting of two sections, means for removably attachingthe outer ends of said sections to the adjacent sides of the boX,reversely-curved offsets on the inner ends of said sections, a rotatableI5' lever pivoted to the terminals of both said offsets, the pivotsbeing so located as to be carried partially around each other by therotation of said lever, the pivot on each section being brought to bearagainst the concavity zo Witnesses:

F. A. SPENCER, M. L. LANGE.

